Survivor: Micronesia - "I Promise..."Review

Wow, how about that, huh? It's not the first time it's happened, but it's still pretty noteworthy and most of all just exciting when a Survivor season gets an upheaval like the one we saw this week.

First off, how about Jason's comment early on that Ozzy wasn't "The only God-like competitor." It was an hysterical statement, because not only was Jason showing his own hero worship of Ozzy by referring to him as God-like, he was also showing his hero worship of himself, by saying that he too was, yes, God-like. Wow.

Survivor can be very cruel by design, and such was the case with the reward challenge, which had the tribe split into two teams, while leaving one person left out of their schoolyard pick. That person was Cirie, who's a consistently smart player and also someone you don't really want to anger. That time on Exile Island only gave her more time to mull over what she wanted to do next, especially knowing that there was no use looking for the immunity idol, since they all now knew Ozzy had it.

Erik was very amusing on this episode, as he, Jason, Ozzy and Amanda got to spend a day on a small local island with the people who lived there. From the bare breasts of the women, to the Betel nuts the men chewed on, to the beer being offered, Erik was processing a lot, and was both funny and oddly endearing as he ended up drunk and puking. Ozzy said it was fun to watch Erik watch everything in awe, and he's right. The kid just seems very genuine, in his dorky way.

After the reward challenge, Ozzy made a classic blunder – he talked and talked and talked about all the great food they'd eaten on the reward to the starving others. Seriously, Ozzy, you've played this game before! How could you not realize how stupid that is and how it only builds resentment?

The immunity challenge was the same one I always remember Shii-Ann winning right when she needed to in All-Stars, as the competitors all had to hold one arm above their head, which was tied to a huge container of water. The one big difference here turned out to be that the water was colored, and James (who was quite the comedy MVP throughout the episode) hysterically acclaimed, "What in the Nickelodeon?!" when the first person got dosed in a bright colored liquid. On the downside for James though, even if his gripes about no one pitching in to help keep the fire going are true, it was incredibly passive aggressive of him to make such loud noises a few feet from everyone while they were sleeping. And it caused a big argument between he and Parvati that we hadn't seen yet.

Parvati: About to make a big move

Amanda, Jason and Parvati were all incredibly impressive in the immunity challenge, with each lasting five hours. Ozzy quitting to take food offered by Jeff was really strange – Was he physically about to drop out and wanted to save face? Or had he really gotten that cocky and comfortable? The latter certainly seems to be the case, given all his other actions…

When it was just Jason and Parvati left, Jeff came out with a huge platter of food and a terrible offer – if someone stepped down, everyone else would get to share the food. On one hand, Jason's proven not to be the brightest bulb, but on the other hand, I actually respect his decision to accept everyone's "guarantee" not to vote him out that night if he stepped down. He himself pointed out what a risk it was, so no, he wasn't blindly saying, "Okay, cool, I trust you guys!" But he also dropped the "godlike" talk to admit that no, it was highly unlikely he could win every immunity challenge until the end, so he had to try to do something else to get in with his tribemates, even if it could end up backfiring.

There had been talk of getting rid of Ozzy going on behind the scenes for weeks now. Ozzy came into the game with a target on his back, and that certainly hadn't dissipated. Having the idol only made him more dangerous. So Cirie decided to make a huge push to blindside him, and it involved a very important decision for someone else – Parvati, who had also been intent on getting rid of Ozzy and James for awhile. It's easy to dismiss Parvati because of her constant (and sitting at home, very obvious) "flirting strategy." But the girl is a competitor, and she decided she was ready to actually cross the line and betray her alliance. With James, Amanda and Ozzy Fan #1 Erik kept out of the loop, everyone else decided the time had come to get rid of Ozzy.

Of course we saw Parvati express her doubts, knowing she was making a dangerous move. And going into tribal council, there was still some question of whether she would actually go for it or not and betray him. You never know if the editors are playing with you, making it seem like something big might happen, only for it to not… But that wasn't the case here, oh no. Because we got one of the most shocked reactions ever, as Ozzy himself, plus Amanda, James, Erik and the hysterically jaw-dropped jury member Eliza watched as Ozzy was voted out.

In his final words, Ozzy said he only had himself to blame, and he's right. He believed he had a tight alliance, but didn't ever seem to think about how taking him to the end was a very bad move that it was likely someone would think twice about. And look, if you have a final four alliance, it still means someone's going to get screwed, because only three of those people are going to the very end. Ozzy having that immunity idol probably sealed the deal for Parvati, because Ozzy was already so strong at challenges (though he hadn't won one on his own yet this season). Parvati will have a tough time actually winning now though, because she just pissed off her whole alliance, souring several of the potential jury against her.

Meanwhile Cirie continues to be play a really great game. By never having any truly close allies, yet often controlling the vote, she's making a great case for herself to win should she get to the end. She won't be seen as a huge traitor and she will be respected as a skilled manipulator (which she absolutely is). This is her game to lose right now… unless people start to again notice how dangerous she is.